The radio control (RC) hobby has a storied history in California, where toy car manufacturing boomed during the 1970s and 1980s, putting ready-to-run buggies and trucks into the hands of children and adults alike. But the state is also home to a handful of hobbyists who’ve made a career out of racing RC cars.These pro RC racers travel nearly half the year to compete in racing events across the globe. In March, they faced off at the 26th annual Dirt Nitro Challenge in Perris, C.A. — the unofficial kickoff to the pro racing season.
Malia Mendez is a reporting fellow at the Los Angeles Times. She started writing for The Times in 2023 as a summer intern on the Entertainment and Arts Desk, worked as an editorial assistant and reported with the Fast Break Desk’s entertainment news team. Mendez graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s in journalism. Her byline can be found in Los Angeles Magazine, the Orange County Register and the Peninsula Press.
Albert Brave Tiger Lee is a Southern California native, son of Korean immigrants, a father and a staff videographer at the Los Angeles Times. His work spans various mediums of visual storytelling and has been recognized for various disciplines including a national Emmy Award for News and Documentary, an RFK Journalism Award, Pictures of the Year International honors, the National Press Photographers Assn.’s Best of Photojournalism Award and Columbia University’s Dart Award.
